Book set in Berlin, Germany. Reviewed on 2019/05: https://www.instagram.com/p/BxfWUSOAfJ_/
#magnushirschfeld has been mentioned one way or another in almost every single book I’ve read so far for my #genderqueerlit project. His advocacy, scientific and social work and of course the creation of his #InstitutfürSexualwissenschaftundoubtedly make him a prominent figure of the #lgbtqi struggle. This little book however is more #anecdotal than anything else and might feel cringe-worthy to some of our contemporary sensibilities. For example he refers to everything not heterosexual as the #thirdsex despite the fact they he also attempted to catalog and describe thousands of cases of different sexual identities, expressions, genders and so on. #berlinsthirdsex is apparently part of a series #großstadtdokumente meant to describe #urbanlife and its distinctive “creatures” in the #megapole #berlin and I think it should be read primarily as such. #BerlinsDrittesGeschlecht has to be read also through the prism and eyes of beginning of 20th century #weimar#germany to really appreciate the fierceness of it and the impact it had despite what came right afterwards. I believe that this is probably the most important lesson here. How to take solace and hope from his story and activism and all the people that he tried in one way or another help or convince to think differently, to dare to think differently. #hirschfeld is the perfect example of how despite all the odds, there is a need to continue and believe until the end. He was definitely not successful in his lifetime. However his ideas did not perish. They still live on and I think that’s quite remarkable. The remarkable part here is also how much he wanted to bring the battle to the people. How much his fight was political and social feeding from his medical and literary knowledge. I appreciated the annotations and introductions put together by #rixfordeditions. I’d love to know about this publisher because their format was excellent and a great reading experience. This book does not have it all and that’s probably a good thing. This book is more a beginning of a discovery for some of us and also a role model which we desperately need. #highlyrecommended #berlin
hebdo_readings 